Jimmy nodded. "That sword is freakin' awesome."
Jesse grinned. "I know, right?"
Howard arched a brow at them. "What part of minimum talking did you not get?"
"Huh?" Jesse gave them a blank look.
"Bro." Jimmy nudged him. "They're telling us to shut up."
"Oh. Right. Covert." Jesse nodded, then whispered with a grin, "This is so cool!"
"Give us three minutes, then meet us at the gatehouse," Howard said quietly. "Got it?"
"Aye, Captain." Jesse studied his wristwatch. "Three minutes on my mark. Five, four, three - "
"Why are you counting?" Jimmy whispered.
"That's what they do in the movies," Jesse replied. "Shoot, now I have to start over."
Phil groaned. "You're leaving me alone with these two?"
Howard grinned, then motioned for Dougal to follow him. "Let's go." They moved quickly through the woods, staying close to the road, till the gatehouse came into view.
"I'll draw the guard out," Howard whispered. "You know what to do?"
"Aye." Dougal slipped a black leather glove onto his left hand.
Howard eased into the road, and a few seconds later, the guard stepped out. A big mortal in a khaki uniform.
"Hold it right there." The guard rested a hand on his sidearm.
Dougal teleported behind him, and his eyes glowed as he turned his Vamp power on high. The guard's face went blank, his eyelids closed, and then he slumped onto the road. Dougal picked him up and carried him into the gatehouse, while Howard jogged toward them.
Inside, Howard studied the two monitors. There appeared to be only two security cameras, one showing the front of the house, and the other, the back. Rhett probably wasn't too concerned about security. His family had amassed a lot of power over the past fifty years, and they were known to be ruthless. Who was going to mess with Rhett when he had five hundred minions at his beck and call?
The monitor displaying the huge backyard showed Rhett and some companions in the process of stripping and shifting. In the front, two guards stood by double doors of leaded glass.
Dougal settled the guard in a chair. "He'll have no memory of this, and he'll sleep for about ten minutes. Is that long enough?"
"Yes." Howard snapped on some latex gloves and eyed Dougal's mechanical hand. "No fingerprints?"
"Nay." Dougal gave his right hand a wry look. "No feeling, either, but it's better than wearing a bloody hook like a pirate."
Howard smiled and went to work. He recorded thirty seconds of the guards standing by the front door, then programmed the recording to loop for the next ten minutes. That way, if anyone checked the surveillance tape, they'd never see him and his team invading the house. Meanwhile, all the werewolves in the backyard completed their shifting and slipped into the woods.
When he and Dougal left the gatehouse, Phil and the boys slipped out of the woods and joined them.
"Let's go." Howard motioned for them to follow him down the long winding driveway. "Stay away from the back of the house. There's a surveillance camera there still working and a bunch of werewolves in the woods."
As soon as the front of the house became visible, Dougal teleported to the guards, and they slumped onto the ground.
"Whoa," Jimmy whispered. "What was that?"
"Some kind of vampire voodoo?" Jesse asked.
"Mind control," Howard answered. "The guards will have no memory of this. You guys watch the front. I'll be back soon."
He jogged toward the double front doors and entered the sprawling stone-and-log house. A quick glance back reassured him that Phil had the situation under control. Thank God he and Dougal had come. His cousins were enthusiastic and well-intentioned, but they were totally inexperienced in this kind of work.
It took less than a minute for him and Dougal to locate Rhett's home office. Howard retrieved a sixty-four-gig flash drive from his pocket and plugged it into the USB port on Rhett's computer.
Dougal stood guard at the office door. "I doona hear any other heartbeats. The house is empty." He approached slowly. "What are ye doing?"
"Downloading. Bank accounts, passwords, you name it. I designed this program to be super quick. It should take less than four minutes."
"Impressive."
Howard nodded, watching the monitor. "I didn't just play football in college. I majored in computer science."
"Och, I dinna know that."
Howard slanted an amused look at the vampire. "How do you think all the computers at MacKay S and I and Romatech manage to stay secure? That's what I do during the day while you guys are sleeping." He grinned. "And you thought I was just eating donuts."
Dougal chuckled. "Aye." He looked around the room, then, with a wince, he motioned toward the stone fireplace. "No' someone ye know, I hope."
Howard's eyes narrowed on the white bearskin rug resting on top of the polished hardwood floor. A polar bear. He gritted his teeth.
" 'Tis no' a were-bear, right?" Dougal asked. "I thought shifters turn back to human form when they die."
"That's right." Howard sighed. "I wish we could take the bear with us, but we have to leave everything exactly as it is."
"Ye doona want to rob this house and destroy it like ye did the others? We could set it on fire."
"An old friend of mine named Smoky told me to never start a forest fire."
Dougal snorted. "This is all fun and games to you."
Howard shook his head. "When it comes to strategy, I'm dead serious. We have to get in and out of here without anyone knowing. We would be vastly outnumbered if they caught us. And we have to keep everything the same, because if Rhett suspected we were here, he would change his passwords and secure his accounts." He leaned over to check the progress of his software. Almost done.
"Is it worth it?" Dougal asked. "Playing yer game of revenge when ye canna let him know ye're the one toying with him?"
Howard straightened slowly. "I don't have a choice. I have to protect my family and friends."
Dougal stepped closer. "But if ye had a choice - "
"I don't." Howard removed the flash drive. "We're done here. Let's go."
Dougal followed him. "If ye had a choice, would ye play the game differently?"
"There would be no game." Howard glanced back. "I'd kill him."
Chapter Four
The following afternoon, Howard and his team arrived at his grandfather's house on Paw Island. His cousins were sent home, two houses down the street, so their parents would know the boys were all right. A quick check in the basement assured him that Dougal had safely teleported back the night before and was now in his death-sleep.
Phil settled in the small family room with Howard's grandfather, Walter, and they found a baseball game to watch on TV. Howard greeted his mother, who was busy in the kitchen, then hurried down the narrow hallway to his old bedroom.
While his laptop booted up, he looked around. The twin bed still sported an NFL comforter in red, white, and blue, and the small window had matching curtains, although faded to the point that the names of football teams were barely legible. His old trophies were still lined up on the dresser.
He sighed, remembering how much his mother had cried when he'd left for college. He'd kept in touch with her over the years, and she'd always pretended like he was coming home to visit soon. He hadn't reminded her that he could never return. He knew if he mentioned his banishment, she would burst into tears.
He dragged a hand through his hair. His mother had suffered too much because of him. She acted like everything was rosy now that he was home, but when he gazed around his old room, he cringed at the thought of his mother keeping it exactly the same for twenty years. The poor woman had lost her husband, and then years later, when Howard was eighteen, she'd lost him, too.
After he'd tossed Rhett Bleddyn off the cliff, Rhett's father had threatened to annihilate the were-bear community if Howard wasn't punished, so the Council of Elders, which included his grandfather, had banished him for life. But Howard no longer felt obligated to honor the old decree, not when he obviously hadn't managed to kill Rhett. Rhett's father had passed away a year ago, and Rhett had emerged from hiding to become the new Pack Master. As far as Howard was concerned, he could now go home whenever he wanted. And he'd make sure that Rhett finally paid for his crimes.